Here’s the top podcast news reported by Mediaweek for this week.
Hamish and Andy lead and news podcasts surge in latest ranker
Commercial Radio & Audio (CRA) and Triton Digital have released the August Australian Podcast Ranker, and the numbers point to two clear trends: Hamish and Andy remain on top, and Australians are tuning into news podcasts in big numbers.
Hamish and Andy drew in 855,315 listeners across August. While plenty of competitors have tried to take the crown, the duo’s blend of humour, nostalgia and sheer consistency continues to deliver the biggest audience in the country.
Grant Tothill, Executive Head LiSTNR Operations and Audience, said the pair’s continued reign is “a testament to their consistency and connection with audiences.”
‘It lets me talk about things I wouldn’t cram into a 30-second clip’: Kayla Jade on the success of her vodcast
When her vodcast Storytime with Kayla Jade launched in April under Made in Katana’s new podcast division, MIK Made, the studio expected strong engagement with Gen Z audiences.
What they didn’t predict was the scale. More than one million streams and views across platforms in its first month, and it’s growing, fast. It’s now a Top Ten podcast in the US too.
The audience data tells a clear story. As a vodcast, it draws a heavily female base, 85–90 per cent, with a core skew of 18–34 but a surprising reach into older demographics, that is unexpected.
David and Lisa Campbell step into the Austenverse with new podcast
It is a truth universally acknowledged that a milestone such as Jane Austen’s 250th birthday must be celebrated in style. For David and Lisa Campbell, that celebration comes in the form of a new podcast: Into The Austenverse.
The Campbells describe their project as the perfect Venn diagram: one circle labelled pop culture, the other classical literature, and in the overlap sits their podcast.
David and Lisa Campbell
New six-part investigative documentary series, Jailbreak, traces the extraordinary life of Darko ‘Dougie’ Desic launches
The Northern Beaches local who broke out of prison with a hacksaw and bolt cutters managed to stay free for nearly three decades.
The story begins with an unlikely scene: a neatly dressed man in his 60s walking into Dee Why Police Station to hand himself in.
Police soon realised they were face-to-face with one of Australia’s most elusive escapees, a man once featured on Australia’s Most Wanted.
Hosted by award-winning journalist and author Tim Elliott, the podcast follows Darko’s journey from his arrival in Australia from Yugoslavia, to his arrest for cultivating marijuana, his prison escape from Grafton, and his decades on the run.
